Identifying the Fit by Ben Norton

A: ♣2. West’s raise to 4♠ was pre-emptive, so he'll have a weak distributional hand, probably with five-card Spade support. As such you need to be active on lead, otherwise there’s a fair chance that declarer will be able to get his losers away. Your best shot is a Club lead, aiming to set up tricks there.

Your result so far:

A: ♦K. The fact that partner didn’t Double 5♠ spells warning signs. West probably bid 5♠ to make and since you hold seven Hearts it’s very unlikely that a Heart trick is standing up. You need to be aggressive on lead and try the ♦K. If partner has the Ace and you take a ruff then you’ve struck gold, and if he doesn’t it may be necessary to set up a trick in the suit anyway. With the weak hand on your right it’s unlikely that the ♦K will give anything away.

Your result so far:

A: ♠2. East bid 3NT to play, so he'll have a balanced hand with soft values (Queens and Jacks), but West decided to play in 4♠ anyway. This suggests that West has a distributional hand and is hoping to take some ruffs in the short hand, therefore you must lead a trump to reduce the ruffing potential.

Your result so far:

A: ♣Q. A trump lead isn’t necessary this time, since now it is East who has scorned the attempt to play in No-trumps. Therefore East probably has some distribution, but he has the trump length so you don’t really mind if he takes some ruffs. An active ♣Q lead is best, which will only lose when dummy has the Ten and an honor and declarer has the other honor. Otherwise this lead stands to set up tricks.

Your result so far:

A: ♥A. The auction strongly suggests that East-West are playing in a Moysian (4-3) fit, since if West had four Spades he would have bid 3♠ over 3♣. East’s 3♠ bid kept 3NT in the game in case his partner had a Heart stop (with five Spades East would have bid 2♠ over 2♥), but West preferred to play in the 4-3 fit. Thus declarer must be wide open in Hearts and you should attack them at once by leading the Ace. Not only do you expect to take some Heart tricks, but seeing as trump control is nearly always an issue in 4-3 fits you can force declarer to ruff Hearts, which may even be with the long trump hand, thus promoting your fourth trump.

When you’re on lead against a suit contract, take time to consider how big the opponents' trump fit is and decide from that, along with other factors such as how the cards appear to be lying for declarer, if an active or passive defense is in order. Then form a plan for the defense.

Your result so far: